Project Page Views: [ 703 ]
| Project Metadata Element | Details |
| Project Title | Eutrophication from Agricultural Sources (Phosphorus and Nitrogen) - Effects of Agricultural Practices on Nitrate Leaching - Groundwater Work Package |
| Research Area | Water |
| Project Acronym | |
| Principal Investigator or Lead Irish Partner | Paul Johnston |
| Lead Institution or Organisation | University of Dublin, Trinity College (TCD) |
| Lead Country | Ireland |
| Latitude, Longitude (of Lead Institution) | 53.34449, -6.25867 |
| Lead Funding Entity | Environmental Protection Agency |
| Approximate Project Start Date | 01/11/2000 |
| Approximate Project Finishing Date | 01/01/2006 |
| Project Website (if any) | |
| Links to other Web-based resources | |
| Project Keywords | Eutropication; Agriculture; Nitrate Leaching; Groundwater |
| Project Abstract | Groundwater is the usual receiving environment for nitrates leaching from near-surface soils. However, as a receptor, groundwater is dynamic and may at times be relatively remote from the leaching source soil. Understanding the cause-effect link between source and receptor is fundamental to the evaluation of the impact of agricultural practice on groundwater quality, nitrate concentrations in particular. What has been established is that nitrate concentrations in groundwaters and surface waters have been increasing over recent decades in many parts of Europe. In Ireland, these increases have been marked since the intensification of agriculture which has occurred over the past 30 years although a change in agricultural practice is not the only contributor to this deterioration in quality. With respect to groundwater, the cause for concern is twofold. Firstly from increased nitrate concentrations in water supply as a possible public health hazard and secondly, as a contributing factor to increased eutrophication in rivers and lakes. Both these issues are already recognized and reflected in a number of EU Directives and National legislation aimed at the direct or indirect control of releases to the natural environment (eg the Nitrate Directive, Drinking Water Quality Regulations and the Groundwater Directive). More recently, the draft Water Framework Directive is attempting to establish management on a hydrological catchment basis with ecology as the key criterion. Thus the quality and quantity of the surface and groundwaters are defined in terms of their impact on established ecologies. The quantification of the agricultural sources of nitrates in this context is important for ultimate sustainable management of the natural environment. A considerable body of research already exists (Jarvis,1999) on establishing nitrate dynamics in a variety of agricultural systems, including those in Ireland. However, the capacity to predict rates of nitrogen arrival at a surface or groundwater body has been elusive, mainly due to the complexity of the nitrogen dynamics. Nevertheless, in spite of these uncertainties, the approach to such prediction necessarily has to be based on a risk-based strategy (Johnston et al,1998), identifying and utilizing the key controlling factors in a simple model. It is this philosophy that underpins the concept of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) arising from the EU Nitrate Directive which are an attempt to define land areas which are more likely to suffer leaching of nitrates to groundwater under given climatic, hydrogeological and agricultural conditions. Thus, the need to measure and define nitrate responses in an Irish context is fundamental to this approach. |